The First Amendment of the U. S. Constitution states, “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech . . . .” That sounds simple enough, but our high court and has spent more than 200 years and written countless opinions deciding what that means. The First Amendment, the Court has pronounced, protects the right to criticize political leaders, the right to burn the flag, and even the right not to speak, for example. However, the Supreme Court has never found that the First Amendment protects a right to distribute obscene materials—hardcore pornography. “[T]o equate the free and robust exchange of ideas and political debate with commercial exploitation of obscene material demeans the grand conception of the First Amendment and its high purposes in the historic struggle for freedom. It is a ‘misuse of the great guarantees of free speech and . . . press.’”…

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